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Loud cheers and muffled groans contrasted each other, informing Kris of the end of another basketball match. From the sound of it, Luhan's team won because Xiumin's dolphin shriek lingered in the air, haunting the park. The eldest hyung yelled at his team, putting together a strategy that was sure to succeed, at the same time nagging at s for slacking off. It seemed Luhan had previously said something that agitated the steamed bun, making him burn with desire, because Kris has never seen Minseok so competitive in his entire life.

"Why aren't you playing, Ge?"

Kris tilted his head to the left, where the voice spoke. Tao approached him cautiously on all fours, trying to mute the sound of shifting wet grass, but failing miserably. "No 'How are you doing, Ge?' or something?" Kris asked.

"Hey, Ge." Tao rolled his eyes as he laid beside his favourite person. "How are you doing?"

"Does Minseok know you're here?" Kris snorted, not at all touched by his warm greeting. "The last thing I want is him chopping off my precious head because someone decided to sneak off from a game of basketball."

"Hence, the crawling." Tao grinned, not at all abashed. Kris shook his head, worried sick about his future, but told himself that he would deal with the consequences later, or at least make Tao pay.

"So, what's up?" He spoke in English, but Tao understood those simple words perfectly fine. "Don't you want to play with them?"

"Basketball is your game," Tao started. "Don't you want to play with them?" He shot the question right back at Kris. 

The taller boy threw his head back in laughter, "No duh, Captain Obvious. It's the only thing I'm good at, of course it's my game." He reached out to ruffle Tao's blond hair, holding back the giggles that threatened to break loose. 

Tao felt like beating him into a pulp, strangling the death out of him, but remembered that it was a family-friendly park they were in. Mothers wouldn't like their 3 year old daughters and sons poking at a dead body, asking disturbing questions about the exposed bloody organs smashed onto the tree barks. How dare he claim that basketball was his only good point when Tao had been admiring his fine qualities since forever? As they got to know each other, Tao disclosed many better-left-untold secrets of his close friend, but the amount of respect he had for the man incresed dramatically as well due to his fazing attitude towards friends, seniors and family, and generous talents (Drawing not included).

"Wu Yi Fan-" Tao bent over backward to hold his tongue, the thought of ruining the moment striked out. There wasn't room for arguments during rare days like these; perfect days never existed, so Tao treasured any day that came awfully close to being considered a perfect day. "The stars are really pretty tonight." He finished off lamely. 

Another carefree laughter, "Aren't they?" and a jolly smile, going along with what he supposed was Tao's way of being considerate. He wasn't in the mood, anyways, so additional comments were silly. "Do you see what I see?" He asked in a sing-song voice. 

Tao shrugged, to lazy for a proper reply. Kris had seen him, anyways. 

"You." Kris breathed out as he turned to give Tao a heartwarming smile. His heart stopped pumping, frozen, but instead of blood, filled with a honey-like substance that drowned him in the moment. He began to speak, but Kris hushed him good-naturedly. "Look up."

Tao did as he was told, murky eyes searching the night skies for the mentioned object. Confused, he looked to Kris for help. The older man directed him to a stray batch of stars, tracing a word he couldn't make out with his slender index finger. "Tao." He stated matter-of-factly.

It took him minutes, but Tao finally understood what the galaxy man was going off about. "Oh," he muttered, disappointed. "I see."

Kris scrutinized his panda's face, "Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly, unaware that he just destroyed the romantic atmosphere. 

He bounced back quickly, a blush forming on his face when he realized that he had misunderstood the situation. "No, I don't see it!"

"But you just said-"

"You basically joined the stars with imaginary lines and made them spell Tao," He whacked him on the back of his head. "Stop being so cheesy, you greasy old man! Even I can do something as lame as that." Tao reached out for the stars, messily scrawling Kris' name in the air, just like how Kris did minutes ago with Tao's name. "See?"

Kris chuckled at his childish antics, "Yeah, I see." He mused. 

Silence fell upon them, only the soft thudding from the basketball courts could be heard, the cicadas strangely quiet tonight. Tao, being Tao, couldn't stand the silence, and was the first to break it with a question. 

"Why do you want to go to the galaxy, Ge?"

Kris didn't need time to think, and immediately replied, "It's pretty out there. Wouldn't you like to go, too?"

Tao shook his head, no, "You'll suffocate."

"What's the difference? We're already choking on words down here on Earth." 

He didn't know if it was the luminous light emitted from the full moon shining down on them, or the humid summer air hugging his skin, or the credence in Kris' beautiful eyes, but that sentence made a lot of sense to him, even if it wouldn't in the future. 

"I guess you're right, Ge." He agreed. "Maybe I do want to visit the galaxy."

A deep growl got both boys turning their heads, a very ferocious looking Minseok marched towards them, baring his sharp teeth as he came closer. "Hwang Zi Tao! Kris!" He barked. "I need your asses in the game, right now."

Of course a perfect day didn't exist.

Needless to say, the game resulted with a landslide in favour to Luhan. They exchanged a troubled glance, "On the count of three..." Kris whispered. "1..2..3!"

Kris took the lead, dragging Tao by the hand into the darker, more mysterious parts of the park. Tao stumbled a few times, eyes still not used to the dark surroundings, grip tightening with each time, their hands entwined - warm and cold - never letting go of the other, as if their lives depended on it.

Funny how Tao didn't feel one bit uneasy, how his stomach didn't knot, how he didn't fear the darkness, like how he usually did when he watched a horror movie, or confront a bug with a rolled up newspaper in his hand. With Kris, there was no need to fear; with Kris, he could face any obstacle and make it past alive, because they were together, and that was all that mattered to him.

They ventured halfway across the field, breaths uneven when they both tripped over a branch onto the vacant space, hands still linked as they laughed merrily. Neither initiated to break the tie, the feeling of letting go, they'll never know. 

They soon drifted off into silence once again, tinkling laughters dying down, more comfortable with each other's company compared to before. Kris smiled dreamily, lost in thoughts, yet one thought dominating the rest. 

What he forgot to tell Tao, was that they were already in the Galaxy.